Basketball Wiretap

The San Antonio Spurs have used 24 starting lineups this season as they have accrued 185 total games missed due to injury. Kawhi Leonard alone has missed 61 games.

"It's been a frustrating season," Gregg Popovich said. "But the challenges have pulled a lot of people closer. You have to do different things to try to stay afloat. It's been rewarding, as counterintuitive as that sounds."

"You've got to think: You can find the silver lining in anything," Danny Green said. "These young guys have gotten a great opportunity to show what they can do, and I think this will be great for them moving forward for their careers and for us as a team also to build some character, some depth, some trust and experience with these younger guys.

"We're hoping when it all comes together that this will be good for us."

The NBA sent teams an email this month detailing the disruption of their trading system under the United States' new tax law. The NBA is still figuring out how to respond.

The new law forces manufacturers, farmers and others to pay more in capital gains taxes, if they trade an asset for something more valuable, and it also applies to sports teams trading player.

“There is no fair-market value of a baseball player. There isn’t,” said Daniel R. Halem, the chief legal officer of Major League Baseball. “I don’t really know what our clubs are going to do to address the issue. We haven’t fully figured it out yet. This is a change we hope was inadvertent, and we’re going to lobby hard to get it corrected.”

Officials from the NBA and MLB expressed hope that Congress would revisit the provision.

For decades, teams have not paid taxes on trades, and thus have not had to account for the value of the assets they are exchanging, for tax purposes.

The Internal Revenue Service allowed baseball owners to depreciate the cost of player contracts over several years to reduce the team's taxable income. It declared that “trades of player contracts owned by major league baseball clubs will be considered exchanges of like-kind property” under a section of the tax code.

LeBron James is believed to spend over $1 million per year caring for his body.

James privately employs Donnie Raimon as his personal biomechanist. Raimon helped James overcome back issues he began to experience in 2015.

James also has worked with Mike Mancias since 2004. Mancias is employed by the Cavaliers.

"Between Donnie and Mike, it's a great one-two punch," James said.

"LeBron is probably one of the best I've seen as far as just, every day you see him just doing stuff with Donnie every day," Tyronn Lue said. "He does a really good job of taking care of his body, and that's why he's able to play the way that he does."

James also employs personal chefs and masseuses while he also gets private treatments with liquid nitrogen to help reduce inflammation. The home facilities James has rival those of professional teams. In his Akron home, James has a complete workout gym, hot and cold tubs and a hyperbaric chamber.

"I just think over time you kind of learn how to grow with it and how to deal with it when certain situations happen," James said. "It's very challenging, and you just have to go through it, and there was never someone I could talk to when I was coming up that was a part of this league that I could kind of lean on. I've learned everything on the fly. And I'm not talking about the game. Obviously, I've had coaches, I've had teammates and things of that nature. But as far as being an NBA player, how to approach it, how your body and how you continue to stay consistent, I've learned all of that on my own."

Joe Lacob said he discusses contingency plans for endless best- and worst-case scenarios “every day” for the Warriors.

The Warriors have looked to the Spurs for how to build a sustainable title contender.

“They’re a great role model for how to sustain it, but I have no idea where we’ll be in five or 10 years,” Bob Myers told The Bay Area News Group. “I’m not sure they knew where they would be. But all you can do is work.”

“If we want to do what the Spurs have done, we’re going to have to find a way to bridge to the next era,” Steve Kerr told The Bay Area News Group. “I don’t know when that is, but this isn’t going to last forever.”

As good as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are now, he realizes that the prime of players is always a fleeting thing.

“Steph is not going to play like this forever. KD is not going to be KD forever,” Kerr said. “How do we build that bridge through personnel and through continuity? I also have to do a great job with my coaching, so hopefully I’ll be a part of that bridge. If I don’t do a good job of coaching, I won’t be. But I know I have the faith of Joe, Peter (Guber) and Bob, and I have the faith in them. I think we have the structure in place to really remain competitive and stable.”

“He’s proven that it’s not about the money or the luxury tax. One thing I know about Joe is he wants to win,” Green said. “He wants to win every game. Up to this point, he’s proven that. Obviously there’s decisions coming up in the next couple of years that have to be made. So we’ll see what happens.”

Green and Thompson will be free agents in upcoming seasons.

“We’ll build around that core until we decide maybe we shouldn’t. But right now it feels pretty good,” Lacob said. “These guys are all performing at a great level. We love them as part of our organization. I don’t really see doing anything major. But you never really know. We have to evaluate when the season is over. It’s very hard when you’re in the middle of it all to see it objectively.”

Lacob floated the possibility of the Warriors make a major move that shakes up their roster.

“Maybe we will emphasize continuity. Or maybe we will make a big move,” Lacob said. “We’re looking at different options, given different things playing out in different ways. I think you should always be doing that.”

There have been reports in the media that the Warriors have internally discussed the possibility of trading for Anthony Davis.

LeBron James has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 22 (games played Monday, March 12, through Sunday, March 18), while Russell Westbrook won Western Conference honors.

This marks the third time James has won the award in 2017-18, increasing his total to an NBA-record 60 Player of the Week awards.

In three games this past week, James led the Cavaliers to a 2-1 record after averaging a NBA-best 32.0 points on .569 shooting from the field, 13.3 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 blocks in 38.0 minutes. He recorded three double-doubles, which includes two triple-double performances during the week. Among Eastern Conference leaders, the 6-8 forward led the conference in points per game (32.0) and field goals made (37), while tying for first in double-doubles (3) and triple-doubles (2). In addition, he ranked second in assists per game (9.7), tied for second in blocks per game (2.33), third in rebounds per game (13.3), tied for fifth in steals per game (2.0) and 15th in field goal percentage (.569). James, who tallied at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in all three contests, was the only player in the NBA to average at least 30.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.

Tyronn Lue is taking a leave of absence as head coach of the Cavaliers to address his ongoing health issues. Larry Drew will serve as interim head coach in Lue's absence.

"After many conversations with our doctors and Koby and much thought given to what is best for the team and my health, I need to step back from coaching for the time being and focus on trying to establish a stronger and healthier foundation from which to coach for the rest of the season," said Lue in a statement.

"I have had chest pains and other troubling symptoms, compounded by a loss of sleep, throughout the year. Despite a battery of tests, there have been no conclusions as to what the exact issue is.

"While I have tried to work through it, the last thing I want is for it to affect the team. I am going to use this time to focus on a prescribed routine and medication, which has previously been difficult to start in the midst of a season. My goal is to come out of it a stronger and healthier version of myself so I can continue to lead this team to the Championship we are all working towards.